Two Detained in Connection With Brush Fires Near 118 Freeway in San Fernando Valley

Two people were detained in connection with brush fires that broke out Tuesday morning in the San Fernando Valley and damaged at least two vehicles, according to Los Angeles police.

At least two brush fires sent thick smoke over the area, forcing traffic to a stop on the 118 Freeway during a day of high fire danger in Southern California. At least two vehicles were damaged by the fires. 

Traffic was shut down on the westbound side of the freeway near the 405 Freeway in the Granada Hills area due to a brush fire that burned behind a freeway sound wall. The fire burned about a half-acre of brush near Woodley Avenue.

A second fire burned brush and at least one vehicle in the Sylmar area.

Details about the two individuals detained by police were not immediately available.

Fires also broke out Tuesday morning in the Hansen Dam Recreation area. No structures were damaged. In Rancho Cucamonga, firefighters attempted to prevent at least three brush fires from spreading near the 210 Freeway.

Details about how the fires started were not immediately available.

The fire broke out during a unseasonably warm October day in Southern California, where temperatures are expected to climb into triple-digits in some areas. The hot and dry conditions will combine with strong wind gusts to elevate the threat of fire for most of the region.

A red flag warning -- declared because of high heat, gusty winds, humidity levels of between 6 and 12 percent, and bone-dry vegetation -- will be in force until 6 p.m. Wednesday in all of Los Angeles County, with the exception of the Antelope Valley.

Specifically, the area under red flag warnings, excessive heat warnings and wind advisories includes the San Gabriel mountains in L.A. and Ventura counties, the Angeles National Forest in L.A. County and the adjoining Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel Valleys, and the L.A. coastal zone, which consists of beach cities, metropolitan L.A., and the Hollywood Hills.

An excessive heat warning will expire at 8 tonight. The wind advisories will expire at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

In the city of Los Angeles, red flag parking restrictions imposed by the Los Angeles Fire Department will be in effect on hilly, narrow streets for the first time in three years. The restrictions are going into effect at 8 a.m. and scheduled to remain in place 24 hours. They're meant to ensure that emergency vehicles are able to navigate narrow streets to respond to fires and that residents are able to safely evacuate if need be.

Vehicles parked illegally in posted locations in "very high fire hazard severity zones" will be subject to towing, according to the LAFD.